The second session for Cycle XV of the Missouri Public Health Leadership Institute (MOPHLI) provided 16 fellows with interactive leadership development training. Fellows assembled on June 22 &ndash 24, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri for presentations from various researchers and practitioners in the field and to engage in self-assessment opportunities.

MOPHLI, sponsored in part by the Heartland Public Health Education & Training Center, enhances the current skills and knowledge of MDHSS managers and public health agency administrators through a year-long curriculum that includes personal growth experiences, conceptual development, peer and evaluator feedback, and skill building. This session focused on several topics based on the curriculum goals including, An Introduction to Ethics, Personal Development Process and Plan with Self-Assessment Feedback, Systems Thinking and Organizational Learning, and Collaborative Leadership. Key speakers included Dr. Donna Werner, St. Louis Community College; Nancy Tolliver, Tolliver Consulting; Sherry Immediato, Heaven & Earth Incorporated; and Jeff Wilson, HCA Virginia Health System.

Cycle XV fellows will continue with the MOPHLI program by participating in various projects, self-assessments, WebEx sessions, and one more in-person event before their graduation from the Institute in February 2012.

To learn more about MOPHLI, please visit the website.

The National Public Health Leadership Development Network’s (NLN) held its annual conference in Oakland, California May 3 – 5, 2011. The NLN is housed at the Heartland Center for Public Health and Community Leadership (HCL), which maintains a mission to increase the competence of current and future public health leaders through development, implementation, and evaluation of leadership education and training programs and products.

A number of sessions were presented by 27 different speakers and panelists. Topics for the event included new directions for leadership development; program innovations in new models, content, media and learning activities; and investing in people, places and policies: implications for leadership development. Conference participants included 38 professionals from both public and private sectors of public health. Download the full conference agenda here.

In addition to the sessions, an annual awards luncheon honored leaders from around the country with the Balderson Leadership Awards.

Learn more about the NLN by visiting the website.

Each year an elite group of public health professionals is honored for guiding others in the field, whether through research, management or leadership development. This year was no different as public health leaders received honors at the National Public Health Leadership Development Network’s (NLN) Annual Conference Awards Luncheon featuring the Balderson Awards on May 4, 2011 in Oakland, California.

Announced awards and honors include leadership council inductees, the Balderson Award for Support of Public Health Leadership Development, and the Balderson Lifetime Public Health Leadership Award. The NLN Executive Committee Members and the Action Learning Coach and Action Learning program participants were also recognized at this event.

View the Balderson Leadership Council Inductees
View the Balderson Leadership Lifetime and Support Awardees

The Balderson Awardees represent a small number of individuals in the field of public health who remain a persistent voice for leadership development and who exemplify the characteristics of Tom Balderson (1949–2001). Balderson spent over 25 years working in various government agencies and was known for his exceptional dedication to public health leadership development. Those honored with Balderson Awards also embody his cherished traits: dedicated, patient, ethical, positive, attentive, passionate, loyal, and motivating.

For more information about the Balderson Awards and the NLN, please visit the website.

A meeting for the Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI) commemorated the graduation of 32 fellows and the first session for 20 new fellows. From February 28 to March 1, 2011, fellows met in Atlanta, Georgia on the Chamblee Campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), marking the end of its 6th cohort and the beginning of its 7th.

The graduation ceremony recognized and celebrated the hard work and dedication of the 2010 – 2011 EPHLI fellows. Christopher Portier, PhD, Director of the National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the CDC, served as the keynote speaker for the ceremony. Six fellows gave oral presentations on their final projects, and the 24 other final projects were displayed in poster format. Topics for these fellows covered a number of environmentally related issues including but not limited to climate change, water sanitation and health, food consumption and health issues affecting minority groups in the U.S. The graduates’ final projects can be viewed in their entirety at the following web address: http://www2a.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/EPHLI/projects.asp.

EPHLI also initiated 20 fellows into its Cycle VII cohort on February 28, 2011. The week-long first session focused on environmental public health performance standards, the ten essential services of public health, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory, Skillscope results, and systems thinking. These fellows will continue their journey through the EPHLI curriculum with assignments, readings, WebEx sessions, and another in-person session before their graduation in February 2012.

For more information about EPHLI and to view the list of graduates and current fellows, visit the website.

On November 17 & December 1, 2010, the National Public Health Leadership Development Network (NLN) and the Public Health Leadership Society (PHLS) held two interactive WebEx sessions featuring the 2010 Balderson Leadership Project Award Winners and Runners-Up. The awardees represent an elite group of public health researchers and practitioners committed to public health leadership development.

Teams from various public health leadership institutes around the country presented their projects or case studies at the WebEx sessions. In addition, the groups shared the impact of their projects on the public health infrastructure and the leadership skills they exhibited during their time spent within their respective leadership institutes.

The NLN presents the Balderson Leadership Project Awards annually, honoring Tom Balderson (1949–2001). Balderson spent over 25 years working in various government agencies and was known for his exceptional dedication to public health leadership development. Each state, regional, national, and international Public Health Leadership Institute is encouraged to nominate an alumni project or case by either an individual or a team. The NLN members then vote on the winner and four runners-up. A complete list of the 2010 awardees can be found here.

The National Public Health Leadership Development Network (NLN) and Public Health Leadership Society offered two educational sessions at the annual American Public Health Association (APHA) Conference in Denver, CO. The sessions held on November 9, 2010 challenged researchers and practitioners in public health to explore their leadership potential and to gain further understanding about the workforce that they represent.

The two NLN sessions provided information on emerging technologies and public health informatics and on leadership and social justice. Moderators led participants in discussions about the innovative use of technology in leadership and workforce development, the leadership implications for public health practice, opportunities for leadership development in participants’ respective regions, leadership challenges, and much more.

Emerging Technologies and Public Health Informatics: Applications and Implications for Workforce Development and Public Health Leaders was the first session held that day and was presented by Geoffrey Downie, Program Manager/Senior Research Specialist for the Mid America Center for Public Health Practice at University of Illinois-Chicago School of Public Health; Dr. Angela Sauaia, Associate Professor of Public Health, Medicine and Surgery at the University of Colorado Denver; and Dr. Laura Magaña Valladares, Academic Dean, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico.

The second session entitled Leadership and Social Justice: Finding Voice and Sustaining Action to Promote Health Equity was led by Ms. Fayette Augillard, Program Coordinator for the academic and residency programs at the Colorado School of Public Health; Sandra Witt, DrPH, MPH, Deputy Director of Planning, Policy and Health Equity of the Alameda County Public Health Department; and Nebraska State Senator Tanya Denise Cook. In keeping with the theme of Social Justice, this session explored stories and journeys as told by community health leaders who are committed to eliminating disparities and achieving health equity by addressing root causes of health and environmental injustice.

These educational sessions were two of several events that the NLN sponsors throughout the year. The NLN is a consortium of organizations and individuals from academic institutions, national and international organizations, and local, state, and federal agencies dedicated to advancing the practice of public health leadership. To learn more about the NLN and upcoming events, please visit the website.

The 6th cohort of the Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI) gathered for their second session in Saint Louis on October 18 – 22, 2010. The group of 32 fellows and nine mentors met in person for a final time before their coming graduation in February 2011.

This session was a competency-based program focusing on personal understanding and growth, critical thinking and analysis, political effectiveness, organizational and team development. Fellows explored seven topics as they relate to leadership and environmental health: Approach to Change, Public Health Leadership, Collaboration, Teamwork, Organizational Learning and Systems Thinking, Environmental Health Scan and Crisis Leadership.

The session’s speakers included experts and leaders in environmental public health:

Donna Dinkin, DrPH, MPH
Sherry Immediato, MBA, ABD
Cynthia Lamberth, MPH, CPH
Lou Rowitz, PhD
John Sarisky, RS, MPH
Mike Thomas, MPH
Nancy Tolliver, RN, MSIR
Kate Wright, EdD, MPH

Fellows also worked with mentors to modify their Individual Development Plan (IDP). The IDP serves as an integral part of the EPHLI curriculum and provides the tools for each fellow to engage in a self-assessment process throughout the year. During this process, each fellow identifies and measures his or her goals to improve upon personal leadership development skills.

The EPHLI program was developed based upon CDC priorities that identified a need for improving leadership capacity in environmental public health practice. Emphasis is placed on the core functions of public health as a foundation for achieving public health goals and the need for proactive environmental public health leaders to mobilize resources in response to the changing public health environment.

For more information about EPHLI, please visit the website.

The third session of the Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma Leadership Institute (KMOLI) gathered 56 fellows from the region for a comprehensive leadership development experience.

Fellows convened September, 15 – 17, 2010 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for presentations by renowned researchers and practitioners in the field of public health. This session focused on topics including, Crisis Communication Issues by Jeff Lanza, Retired FBI Special Agent; Bridges out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities by Gary G. Eagleton, Aha! Process, Inc.; and Global Issues from Local & Systems Perspective by Sherry Immediato, Heaven & Earth Incorporated.

In preparation for this event, fellows completed readings, written assignments, self-assessment instruments, and were assigned to a personal coach and mentor to guide them through the KMOLI curriculum. The KMOLI curriculum provides an intensive and comprehensive program focused on competency-based leadership development, as well as ongoing alumni development that utilizes the strengths and adaptations of three pre-existing leadership institutes (Kansas, Missouri, & Oklahoma).

For more information about KMOLI, please visit the website.

The Heartland Center for Public Health and Community Leadership hosted the second session for Cycle XIV Fellows of the Missouri Public Health Leadership Institute (MOPHLI) in Saint Louis, MO. Leaders and professionals in public health gathered in late June at the Mercy Center to enhance their leadership knowledge and skills through recognized speakers, self-assessment, and systems thinking and organizational learning theory.

Key speakers at the event included Donna Werner, PhD, a Professor of Philosophy and Department Chairperson of Humanities at St. Louis Community College, Meramec and winner of the 2010 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award; Nancy Tolliver, RN, MSIR, the Executive Director of the Women’s Health Center and Birth Center of West Virginia with more than 35 years of health care work experience, of which 25 have been in key administrative positions; Sherry Immediato, MBA, the Managing Director of the Society for Organizational Learning and an organizational consultant and founder of Heaven & Earth Incorporated; and Jeff Wilson, MSHA, the Vice President of HCA Virginia Health System – Orthopedics and Spine for the Central Virginia market and expert in collaborative leadership.

Fellows from the 2010-2011 cycle will complete one more session before graduating from the MOPHLI program in February 2011. The third session, to be held in September 2010, will cover topics related to cultural competence, Public Health issues from a global perspective, global issues from a local & systems perspective, and critical/crisis Issues from a leadership perspective.

MOPHLI possesses a continued mission to develop and enhance the transformational leadership knowledge and skills of managers and public health agency administrators within the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The sessions that each fellow attends are designed to assist development of transformational leadership knowledge, skills and competencies in areas that are vital to improvement of organizational capacity at Missouri’s state and local levels.

To learn more about MOPHLI and the current fellows, visit the website.